Foo Fighters (WWII)

Allied bomber crews, particularly in the European theater, coined the term “foo fighters” for small, glowing balls of light that appeared to pace or follow their aircraft, sometimes for extended periods, without any hostile action being taken.

Assessment

Wartime intelligence assessments and later historical analysis attribute most reports to St. Elmo’s fire (a plasma discharge from aircraft static electricity), misidentified flares or anti-aircraft fire, ball lightning, or reflections of exhaust and engine lights against clouds; some, given wartime secrecy, may also have involved real but conventional experimental enemy technology. No physical evidence has ever substantiated an extraordinary origin.

See also

References

1. ^ Keyhoe, D. (1953). Flying Saucers from Outer Space, ch. on wartime “foo fighter” reports.